Sam-Sumana, who is currently being quarantined for Ebola virus, has gone into hiding while seeking political asylum at the US embassy in the country’s capital, Freetown.
He said he would not resign after President Ernest Bai-Koroma sent troops to his home, adding that he was seeking asylum in the US, while threaning to go to Parliament and the courts to retain his post. He spoke by phone from the capital, Freetown, where he is believed to be hiding.
Bai-Koroma expelled Sam-Sumana from the ruling party earlier this month on “anti-party” activities, including charges that he lied about his credentials and background. Sam-Sumana has, however, denied the charges. The Vice President had been in self-imposed quarantine in his house since last month when one of his bodyguards died of Ebola.
Government spokesman, Abdulai Bayraytay, didn’t immediately answer calls to his mobile phone. Armed forces spokesman, Michael Samura, said he was not aware of any operation at the VP’s home.
A disciplinary committee of Sierra Leone’s ruling All People’s Congress (APC) last week voted to expel Sam-Sumana after accusing him of breaching the party’s constitution and undermining President Bai-Koroma.
“I will not resign, I want to seek justice,” he said. “I ran out of my house when the soldiers rushed in.
“I don’t feel safe this morning as Vice President,” Sam-Sumana, who was expelled from the ruling party, last week, told the Associated Press by phone. He said he wasn’t at his residence, and declined to disclose his whereabouts.
After hearing that soldiers were heading to his home yesterday morning, Sam-Sumana said he tried and failed to contact President Ernest Bai-Koroma. Instead, he said he reached the presidential guard, which informed him on reasons why his security team was being disarmed on orders from the President.
He said he called U.S. Ambassador, John Hoover, and requested asylum. “They’re having a meeting, and they will get back to me,” the Vice President said.
U.S. embassy spokeswoman, Hollyn Green, said embassy officials, including Mr. Hoover, were aware of the situation.
“There is no comment at the moment and there is no action on our part,” Ms. Green said.
A government spokesman said he couldn’t immediately comment. In expelling Sam-Sumana, the ruling party, APC, had accused him of “orchestrating political violence” and trying to form a new party in his home district of Kono, in the country’s Eastern Province.
An announcement read out on state media accused him of “harbouring a group of thugs” and said he was expelled “to preserve the integrity of the party, and discourage political violence in the country.”
Sam-Sumana is also undergoing close watch for Ebola after a member of his security team died of the disease, which has ravaged Sierra Leone. Despite his expulsion from the party and his being quarantined, he remained Vice President, meaning responsibility for running the country falls on him if Bai-Koroma travels abroad.
The staffs of the American embassy have convened a meeting to decide whether to accord him the requested asylum.
Sam-Sumana put himself into precautionary quarantine following the Ebola death of one of his bodyguards, the Sierra Leonean government said last week.
The bodyguard, 42-year-old John Koroma, died, but the Vice President said he is in good health. “I have decided to be put under quarantine because I do not want to take chances, and I want to lead by example,” Sam-Sumana told news agency, Reuters.
“I am very well and showing no signs of illness.”
It is understood that the Vice President would work from home, and was due to become acting president later on Sunday when President Ernest Bai-Koroma heads to Belgium for an EU conference on Ebola.
Late on Friday, Bai-Koroma had reinstated a number of restrictions in response to a rise in Ebola cases in the country.
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